China bans new steel plants in drive to ‘defend the blue sky’ and cut atmospheric pollution
- The main goal of a new plan, published by the State Council, is to reduce the most harmful small particles in the air by 10 per cent by 2025
- Localised bans on new steel plants will now be expanded nationwide, while the use of less polluting electric furnaces is to be extended
The measures were included in a broader 36-point plan to “defend the blue sky” published by the State Council on Thursday.
The plan, under which new plants are “strictly prohibited”, expands a previous ban on new steel projects in specific regions to the whole country.
Last year over a quarter of Chinese cities did not meet the PM2.5 standard of 40 micrograms per cubic metre, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Beyond a ban on new steel capacity, further measures to make the industry greener have also been proposed.
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Most of China’s steel production currently relies on blast furnaces which use coke, made from crushed up and heated coal, to produce pig iron.
But by 2025, the goal is to make at least 15 per cent of its steel using electric furnaces to heat up pig iron or scrap steel – a process which lowers carbon emissions by around 20 to 25 per cent, according to a paper published in April in the peer-reviewed journal Engineering.
However, the paper warned that one limiting factor is that China is struggling to get enough scrap steel, which it had to start importing in 2021 to meet demand.
Emissions from the steel industry have been increasing over the years, accounting for 15 to 18 per cent of China’s total carbon emissions in 2020, according to the paper by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In Europe and the United States, the electric furnace method already accounts for around 43 per cent and 69 per cent of production, respectively.
According to the action plan, by 2025 over 80 per cent of China’s steel production capacity will “complete ultra-low emissions transformation tasks”.
In Hebei, China’s top steel producing province, the number of iron and steel companies has been cut by nearly 70 per cent in a bid to meet local targets, according to Xinhua.
The report said this had dramatically reduced PM2.5 concentrations from 104 micrograms per cubic metre in 2013 to 38.9 this year.
The action plan also includes measures to begin phasing out outdated production and capacity in high-emitting industries, and to promote the growth of green industry.
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Under the plan, China aims to curb the “blind launch” of high-emission and energy-consuming projects, and will require capacity replacement projects to start after the facilities they are replacing shut down.
Expansion or capacity replacement projects will also need to draft peak emissions goals as well as undergoing environmental assessments and energy conservation reviews.
Other targets for 2025 include reducing the emissions of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxide by 10 per cent compared with 2020 levels.
The action plan also has specific policies for key areas such as the northern megacities of Beijing and Tianjin and surrounding parts of Hebei province, or Shanghai and the Yangtze Delta. Both these areas will have to cut coal consumption by 10 and 5 per cent respectively.
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Meanwhile, the number of new energy public transport vehicles and the coverage of electric fast charging stations will have to reach 80 per cent in key areas, while non-fossil fuel energy will have to account for 20 per cent of total energy consumption
The State Council also pledged that action will be taken “to address the chaos of winning bids at low prices” to ensure cheaper, low-quality projects that do not take the environment into account will not benefit.
Other measures aim to strengthen the supervision of industries using increased surveillance, enhance environmental policies while keeping economic goals in mind, and to improve international cooperation on issues such as atmospheric pollution.
